U.S. patent number 3,865,365 [Application Number 05/389,294] was granted by the patent office on 1975-02-11 for apparatus and method for unloading mail stackers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to William Warner Hardin, David Ernest Peterson, Delbert Douglas Towne.
United States Patent |
3,865,365 |
Hardin , et al. |
February 11, 1975 |
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR UNLOADING MAIL STACKERS
Abstract
A mail sorter having a plurality of output stackers into which
sorted envelopes are moved one at a time to rest in a stacker in
substantially vertical disposition. A backing member is movable
longitudinally of the stacker and is yieldably held from movement
down the stacker by a counterweight so that incoming envelopes are
held by the backing member in an increasing height stack. The
backing member is swingably mounted; and, after a substantial
height stack of envelopes collect in the stacker, the backing
member is moved out of contact with the forward end of the stack
and is moved into an intermediate place in the stack. A
counterweight loaded finger originally received in a slot in the
backing member holds the forward end of the stack of envelopes
upright after the backing member has been so moved. The operator
then moves the stack of envelopes now below the backing member
downwardly over a depending lip of the stacker into a mail tray
located below the stacker, so that the envelopes are then in the
tray in the same order as that in which the envelopes were moved
into the stacker.
Inventors: |
Hardin; William Warner
(Stewartville, MN), Peterson; David Ernest (Rochester,
MN), Towne; Delbert Douglas (Rochester, MN) |
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation (Armonk, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23537665 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/389,294 |
Filed: |
August 17, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/214; 271/178;
414/798.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H
31/06 (20130101); B65H 31/30 (20130101); G06K
13/14 (20130101); B07C 1/025 (20130101); B07C
3/008 (20130101); B65H 2301/42254 (20130101); B65H
2301/422548 (20130101); B65H 2301/42146 (20130101); B65H
2301/4228 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B07C
3/00 (20060101); B65H 31/06 (20060101); B07C
1/02 (20060101); B07C 1/00 (20060101); B65H
31/04 (20060101); B65H 31/30 (20060101); G06K
13/14 (20060101); G06K 13/02 (20060101); B65h
031/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;271/214,215,181,180,179,178,213,217,218,219,177 ;214/8.5SS,7,1M
;198/DIG.16 ;209/DIG.1 ;93/93R,93DP |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schacher; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner: Stoner, Jr.; Bruce H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Bleuer; Keith T.
Claims
We claim:
1. Mail stacking apparatus comprising a stacker trough which has a
bottom, a forward end, and an upstanding side and into which
envelopes may be moved one at a time and through which the
envelopes may move as a stack toward said forward end of the trough
as additional envelopes are moved into the trough; a backing member
for supporting the forward end of a stack of envelopes as they move
toward the forward end of the trough; guiding means carried by said
trough side and mounting said backing member so that it may swing
upwardly with respect to said trough bottom and so that it may move
linearly of said trough side whereby the backing member may move
with the forward end of a stack of envelopes in the trough and
whereby the backing member may be swung out of engagement with the
forward end of a stack of envelopes and may be moved backwardly to
an intermediate place in the stack and may then be moved down into
the stack; a second backing member for the forward end of a stack
of envelopes which may support the envelope stack in lieu of said
first named backing member; guiding means carried by said trough
bottom holding said second backing member in upstanding
relationship with respect to said trough bottom and guiding said
second backing member in a movement longitudinally of said trough
bottom; said two guiding means each extending for a major portion
of the length of said trough and being so disposed whereby the
longitudinal movement of said two backing members overlaps for a
major portion of the length of the trough and said second backing
member may move to the forward end of the trough; and means for
applying a restraining force on each of said backing members
tending to hold said backing members from movement toward said
forward trough end whereby said second backing member may be
utilized for holding a series of envelopes in said trough in a
stack when said first named backing member is swung out of
engagement with the forward end of the stack and moved to an
intermediate place in the stack.
2. Mail stacking apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said trough
depending downwardly toward its said forward end and also depending
downwardly transversely thereof to said trough side whereby a stack
of envelopes tends to move downwardly toward said forward end of
the trough and also tends to remain in engagement with said trough
side.
3. Mail stacking apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said force
supplying means for said first named backing member including a
counterweight and said force supplying means for said second
backing member including a second counterweight.
4. Mail stacking apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said guiding
means for said second backing member including a pair of rolls
rotatably mounted on the bottom of said trough and one of which is
located adjacent to said forward trough end and an endless belt
moveably disposed about said rolls and carrying said second backing
member on its outer peripheral surface whereby said second backing
member may travel along with said belt around the roll at the
forward end of said trough and may thus move downwardly out of its
upstanding relationship with respect to said trough bottom to
facilitate the movement of a stack of envelopes out of the forward
end of said trough.
5. Mail stacking apparatus comprising a stacker trough into which
envelopes may be moved one at a time and through which the
envelopes may move as a stack toward a forward end of the trough as
additional envelopes are moved into the trough, a backing member
for supporting the forward end of a stack of envelopes as they move
toward the forward end of the trough, means for slideably and
swingably mounting said backing member with respect to said trough
whereby the backing member may move with the forward end of a stack
of envelopes in the trough and whereby the backing member may be
swung out of engagement with the forward end of a stack of
envelopes and may be moved backwardly to an intermediate place in
the stack and may then be moved into the stack at this place in the
stack, a second backing member for the forward end of a stack of
envelopes which may support the envelope stack in lieu of said
first named backing member, and means for applying a force on each
of said backing members tending to move said backing members in the
direction in said trough away from said forward end thereof whereby
said second backing member may be utilized for holding a series of
envelopes in said trough in a stack when said first named backing
member is swung out of engagement with the forward end of the stack
and moved to an intermediate place in the stack, said first named
backing member constituting a plate and the apparatus including a
rod fixed at one side of said trough and a carriage for slideably
and swingably mounting said first named backing member with respect
to said rod and thereby with respect to said trough, said plate
being formed with an intermediate slot therein, said second backing
member constituting a finger which extends into said slot when both
of said backing members are in place at the foward end of a stack
of envelopes in said trough.
6. Mail stacking apparatus as set forth in claim 5 and including a
pair of rolls and a belt with said finger being mounted on said
belt whereby, when a stack of envelopes is moved toward the forward
end of the trough to remove the envelopes through this end of the
trough, said finger moving with the foward end of the stack rotates
around one of said rolls and thereby moves out of the way of the
stack of envelopes as it is being removed from the forward end of
the trough.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to mail sorting machines and more
particularly to methods and apparatus for unloading the stackers of
a mail sorting machine.
Conventional mail sorting machines comprise output stackers into
which sorted envelopes are directed. It is conventional practice in
unloading these stackers for an operator to simply grasp a stack of
sorted envelopes in a stacker, lift the stack out of the stacker
and then move the stacked envelopes downwardly into a tray located
on an adjacent conveyor or cart.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved
method and apparatus for unloading the output stackers of a mail
sorting machine. More particularly, it is an object of the
invention to provide such an improved method and apparatus whereby
stacked envelopes may be slid downwardly in a stacker into a mail
tray located below the stacker, with the arrangement being such
that envelopes being fed into the stacker during this envelope
unloading operation are held upright in order to form a new stack
in the stacker.
In a preferred form, the apparatus of the invention includes a
backing member which is loaded by means of a counterweight so that,
as envelopes are fed into the stacker, they are held in stacked
relationship by means of the backing member. The backing member is
swingably mounted so that the backing member may be moved out of
holding relationship with a stack of envelopes and moved upwardly
in the stacker into an intermediate place in the stacked envelopes
so that the backing member forms a restraint for a new stack of
envelopes being formed in the stacker. A pin restrained from
forward movement by means of a counterweight is effective on the
forward end of the stack of envelopes below the backing member for
temporarily holding the envelopes. The operator then slides the
stack of envelopes below the backing member in its new position
forwardly in the stacker and over a depending lip formed on the end
of the stacker into a mail tray so that the stack of envelopes is
then contained in the tray in the same order in which the envelopes
were originally stacked in the stacker.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a mail sorting machine
incorporating the principles of the invention and including a
plurality of mail stackers;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the stackers;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the stacker and
taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the intermediate portion of the
stacker and taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, the illustrated mail sorting
machine 8 may be seen to comprise an input section 10 and an output
section 12. The output section 12 includes a plurality of stackers
14. Mail in the usual thin rectangular envelopes 16 is put into the
input section 10 of the machine 8, and the machine 8 functions to
properly sort the envelopes, such as according to address, and to
place them into the stackers 14 according to the sort. The sorting
machine 8 is of prior known construction and hence will not be
described in detail herein.
The invention consists of novel methods and constructions for
unloading stacked envelopes 16 from the stackers 14 into mail trays
18 (the trays themselves are conventional) and will be described in
connection with FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, in particular.
Each of the stackers 14 comprises a trough 20 overlying a flat
horizontal surface 22 that has a forward horizontal portion 23 at a
lower level. The trough 20 comprises a bottom 20a, a relatively
deep side 20b and a relatively shallow side 20c. The bottom 20a has
a downwardly extending lip 20d, and it will be observed that the
trough bottom 20a slants downwardly (with respect to the horizontal
surface 22) toward the lip 20d; and the trough bottom 20a also
slants downwardly from the trough side 20c to the trough side
20b.
The tray 18 comprises a bottom 18a and sides 18b and 18c. As will
be observed from FIG. 2, when the tray 18 rests on the horizontal
surface 22, the trough side 20b extends alongside of and to a
higher level than the tray side 18b, and the trough bottom 20a is
provided with a slot 24 for receiving the tray side 18c. With the
tray 18 for the principal part of its length being supported on the
horizontal surface 22, the forward end of the tray 18 overlies and
is spaced from the horizontal surface portion 23 as is shown in
FIG. 2.
The sorting machine 8 includes envelope driving rolls 25, 26 and 27
(see FIG. 3). The rolls 25 and 26 are located at a higher level
than the rolls 27, and pairs of the rolls 25 and 26 have nips
between them through which the envelopes 16 consecutively pass. The
rolls 25 and 26 may be driven from any suitable driving means. The
rolls 27 are fixed on a shaft 28, and the shaft 28 may be driven by
means of a pulley 30 fixed on the shaft 28 and a belt 32 passing
over the pulley 30. Wire guides 36 extend downwardly from the rolls
26 to the rolls 27 and to the rear or upper end of the trough 20
for guiding envelopes 16 from the rolls 25 and 26 to the upper end
of the trough 20.
A backing member or end plate 40 supports a stack of envelopes 16
within the trough 20. The plate 40 is provided with a slot 42 in it
extending upwardly from its bottom edge, and a support finger 44
(acting at times as a second backing member as will be described)
is disposed within the slot 42 as the parts are shown in FIG. 2.
The plate 40 is swingably mounted on a carriage 46 by means of a
pin 47. The carriage 46 is slideably disposed on a guide rod 48
located at the top edge of and suitably fixed to the trough side
20b. A counterweight 50 is connected with the carriage 46 by means
of a filament 52 which extends over a sheave 54.
The finger 44 is movably disposed in a slot 56 provided in the
trough bottom 20a and is fixed on an endless belt 58 located below
the slot 56 and extending over rolls 60 and 62. A counterweight 64
is connected by means of a thin flat filament 66 passing over a
guide roll 68 with the upper pass of the belt 58 and may be
connected to the belt 58 at the same point as the finger 44.
An upstanding pin 70 on the end of a link 72 is disposed beneath
the trough bottom 20a and slightly to the side of the slot 56. The
finger 44 has a sidewardly extending pin 73 fixed to it that
contacts the pin 70 at times, as will be explained (see FIG. 5).
The link 72 is slideably movable in linear bearings 74 that are
fixed to the trough side 20b. A stop 76 is fixed to the upper end
of the link 72 and has its upward movement in the trough 20 limited
by an abutment 78 fixed to the trough side 20b. The plate 40 has a
part 40a (see FIG. 5) that contacts the stop 76 at times as will be
explained. A counterweight 80 is connected with the stop 76 by a
filament 82 extending over a sheave 84.
In operation, the envelopes 16 are fed into the input section 10 of
the mail sorting machine 8; and, the machine 8 sorts the envelopes
in accordance with the addresses on the faces of the envelopes.
Envelopes 16 as thus sorted appear at the upper entrance ends of
each of the stackers 14 and consecutively pass between the rolls 26
and 25 into the trough 20 of each stacker. The incoming envelopes
move over the guides 36, and these guides are so shaped that each
envelope 16 moves into the trough 20 in substantially vertical
disposition (at right angles to the trough bottom 20a). The rolls
27 help in this action, having frictional engagement with each
envelope as it moves into the trough 20 and driving the envelope
down into contact with the trough bottom 20a. The sorting machine 8
is furthermore so constructed that ends of the envelopes 16 are
substantially in alignment with the trough side 20b. The envelopes
16 in moving into the trough 20 move against the plate 40; and the
envelopes 16 stack in the trough 20, resting on the trough bottom
20a and with ends in contact with the trough side 20b. During this
time, the finger 44 is disposed within the slot 42 in the plate
40.
As the stack of envelopes 16 in the trough 20 builds up, the plate
40 and finger 44 are moved by the stack of envelopes downwardly in
the trough; and the carriage 46 slides along the guide rod 48. This
downward movement of the plate 40 is against the restraining effect
of the counterweight 50 connected by the filament 52 with the
carriage 46 and of the counterweight 64 effective through the
filament 66 on the finger 44. The counterweights 50 and 64 maintain
a constant force on the plate 40 and finger 44 and on the stack of
envelopes that are building up, causing a firm stack of the
envelopes 16 to exist in the trough 20. Each of the envelopes 16 in
the stack has an end in contact with the trough side 20b and rests
on the trough bottom 20a substantially at right angles to the
bottom 20a. As the stack of envelopes 16 builds up in the trough
20, the tray 18 is at rest below the trough 20 on the horizontal
surface 22, substantially in its position as illustrated in FIG. 2,
with the lip 20d being slightly spaced from an end of the tray 18
and with the tray side 18c received by the slot 24 in the trough
bottom 20a.
As the stack of envelopes 16 builds up in the trough 20, eventually
the pin 73 carried by the finger 44 contacts the pin 70 on the link
72, and the link 72 moves downwardly with the envelope stack of
increasing size. The link 70 is connected with the stop 76 and
pulls the stop 76 downwardly along with the finger 44 and plate
40.
Subsequently, when the trough 20 becomes nearly filled, with the
finger 44 moving close to the end of the slot 56, the operator
swings the plate 40 upwardly about its pivot pin 47 out from in
front of the stack of envelopes 16. The pin 44 remains in contact
with the lower end of the stack of envelopes 16 and maintains a
restraining force on the stack due to the action of the
counterweight 64. The envelopes 16 continue to move consecutively
into the upper end of the trough 20, and the envelope stack
continues to build up to a slight extent against the action of the
finger 44 and counterweight 64 while this operation is going
on.
The operator then moves the plate 40 upwardly in the trough 20,
with the plate 40 remaining out of contact with the stacked
envelopes 16; and the carriage 46 slides along the guide rod 48.
This upward movement of the plate 40 and carriage 46 is continued
until the portion 40a of the plate 40 strikes the stop 76, and
further upward movement of the plate 40 in the trough 20 is thus
prevented. The operator then swings the plate 40 downwardly into an
intermediate place in the stack of envelopes 16 within the trough
20, and the plate 40 acted on by the counterweight 50 then acts to
maintain a force on the envelopes being added to the stack at the
upper end of the trough 20. The operator then manually pulls the
stacked envelopes, that are below the plate 40 in its new position,
downwardly in the trough 20; sliding the envelopes through the
lower open end of the trough 20 across the lip 20d into the tray
18.
As the forward edge of the stack of envelopes being removed from
the stacker 14 passes across the lip 20d; the finger 44 is rotated
about the roll 60, with corresponding movement of the belt 58 and
against the action of the counterweight 64, so that the finger 44
is below the level of the trough bottom 20a and lip 20d and
presents no impediment to the removal of the envelopes through the
forward open end of the trough 20. As the finger 44 moves beneath
the trough bottom 20a, the pin 73 unhooks with respect to the pin
70.
At the same time as the envelopes 16 are slid into the tray 18, the
tray 18 is moved forwardly across the horizontal surface 22 so as
to receive the envelopes. As the last portion of the stack of
envelopes is moved downwardly across the lip 20d into the tray 18,
the tray 18 is moved forwardly to such an extent that its rear edge
rides downwardly onto the lower level horizontal surface portion
23; and finally the complete stack of envelopes 16 below the plate
40 in its new position has been thus slid into the tray 18. The
forward end of the tray 18 is held by the operator, while the rear
end of the tray 18 is located on the lower level horizontal surface
portion 23. The loaded tray 18 may then be completely removed with
respect to the stacker 14 and may be placed on a suitable cart or
shelf for further processing of the mail.
After a stack of envelopes 16 has thus been moved from the stacker
14 into a tray 18; the finger 44, under the urging of the
counterweight 64, moves upwardly in the slot 56 into its position
within the slot 42 in the plate 40. The belt 58, during this
movement of the pin 44, moves about its supporting rolls 60 and 62.
The pin 73, during this return movement of the finger 44, snaps
across the pin 70; so that the pins 70 and 73 may again have the
relationship shown in FIG. 5 as a new stack of envelopes increases
sufficiently in size. The stop 76 is moved by the counterweight 80
back into its position as illustrated in FIG. 2, in contact with
the abutment 78. Another filling of the stacker 14 and removal of
the envelopes stacked therein take place again, in the same manner
as has just been described.
The distance between the pin 70 and the stop 76, measured along the
length of the trough 20, is such that the plate 40 may be moved
upwardly in the trough 20 by the operator as above described only
for a distance which is preferably somewhat less than and does not
exceed the inside length of the tray 18. The stop 76 thus in effect
measures the length of a stack of envelopes that may be slid out of
the trough 20 into a tray 18, assuring that this length of stacked
envelopes is no more than the inside length of the tray 18 whereby
all of the envelopes may be received by the tray.
The stacker unloading apparatus above described, as is apparent,
advantageously constitutes a simple, low cost design for attaining
easy unloading of the stackers 14 of mail sorting machine 8. It is
not necessary, using the invention, to load the trays by hand,
first manually clutching a stack of envelopes in a stacker, then
lifting this stack from the stacker and finally setting the stack
of envelopes into a tray. In addition, the unloading apparatus as
above described is not nearly as complicated or as expensive as
prior completely automatic tray unloading apparatus.
It is apparent that, using the mail unloading apparatus of the
invention, it is possible for one operator to handle a large volume
of mail from the sorting machine 8, even though this may be a high
speed machine. Each stacker 14 may be unloaded without interruption
of operation of the machine 8; since the plate 40, after being
manually moved into a new position in the stack of envelopes in the
stacker closer to the upper mail inlet end of the stacker, is
effective on the envelopes being then moved into the trough 20,
even during the time that the stacked envelopes below the plate 40
are being slid into a tray 18 located below the trough. Prior to
this unloading operation, it is apparent that the finger 44 and the
plate 40 constitute two different mechanisms, each actuated by a
counterweight, for maintaining restraining force on envelopes being
stacked in the trough 20.
It will be noted that the envelopes 16 are unloaded from the
stackers 14 in the same relationship as the envelopes are moved
into the stackers, that is, in a "first in - first out"
relationship; and this is important in multi-pass sorting.
Advantageously also, the invention accommodates the same trays 18
that are already in use in United States post offices and into
which envelopes are placed by hand from envelope collecting
stackers.
* * * * *